Swedish based Traton subsidiary, Scania has announced it is taking another significant step towards electrification of new market segments by unveiling a new high-floor, battery-electric bus and coach platform at last week’s Busworld Europe Expo.
Scania claims the introduction of its new BEV bus platform has enabled it to provide battery-electric high-floor buses and coaches for both urban and long distance ravel segments.
The company says that most notably, the platform will be used for the its battery-electric coaches, by offering a range of up to 600 km as well as luggage space that it claims is almost on a par with that of combustion-powered coaches, which it says is a key factor in enabling coach operators to move to electric vehicles.
Scania says that its new BEV bus/coach platform, makes it suitable for medium-distance inter-city traffic, airport shuttles and sports team coaches.
It said that In addition, the new platform can accommodate the needs of shorter inter-city operations or for school or sightseeing buses that don’t have the same luggage space requirements.
Scania adds that the high-floor battery electric platform is also designed for urban applications, offering a scalable pathway to zero-emission bus rapid transit systems in towns and cities in regions like Africa, Asia and South America.
The company says that the technology at the heart of the platform has been tried and tested, from what it calls its “e-machine’ or electric motor, to batteries, charging interface and more, while the platform is compatible with a variety of bodies.
Scania says that on the power side, it also offers adaptability in terms of the e-machine output with up to 330 kW, while adding the installed energy is up to 534 kWh, nwith 480 kWh of available energy.
The company adds that this is also true for the charging capacity, which it claims is up to 325 kW at 500Amps.
Scania reckons that the launch of its high-floor battery-electric platform comes at a time when transport electrification is rapidly expanding beyond purely urban applications in Europe and other markets around the globe. This is accompanied by a growing demand from coach operators for various charging solutions, depending on different operational needs.
Scania claims it is playing a key role in enabling this change with a comprehensive ecosystem of electrification services, with its ability to provide complete and customer-specified charging solutions such as smart charging that helps the operator avoid peak energy costs and maintain battery performance, meaning they can benefit from predictable pricing, full cost transparency and simple payment solutions.
It says that this is complemented by the user-friendly Scania Charging Access service, which it claims opens up a growing network of public charging stations adapted for heavy commercial vehicles to operators in Europe.
Scania’s head of product management for people Transport solutions, Carl-Johan Lööf, said that with the launch of the new high-floor BEV platform, Scania is not only introducing its first battery-electric coaches but also reinforcing its position as a trusted partner in the transition to sustainable transport.
“We believe that the various features offered by this new platform will address coach and bus operators’ concerns about combining zero-emission operations with the needs of urban and travel assignments, making it an ideal solution for the electrification of this growing market in people transport,” said Lööf.
